There were times when Shawn and Kathy Hiester wondered if they would ever see their dream of opening an aquarium in St. Augustine actually happen.

They were dealt a harsh blow last year when neighbors in Riberia Point said they didn’t want the attraction there.

Instead of folding, the Hiesters kept looking forward, and doing that got them to where they were Monday, celebrating the ground-breaking of the St. Augustine Aquarium, Snorkel Adventure and Zip Line off State Road 16.

With just more than a week to go before Cyndi Stevenson knows whether she will have a new job in the Florida House, her old job is still open.

The former St. Johns County commissioner is running for the House District 24 seat that will be vacated by Rep. Doc Renuart, who resigned to run for the Florida Senate District 6 seat. Renuart was defeated in the special Republican primary by Rep. Travis Hutson.

Stevenson’s seat on the County Commission, which she occupied for a decade, will be filled by an applicant chosen by Gov. Rick Scott.

St. Johns County is the second-best county in Florida for job seekers, according to information released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The information showed that the unemployment rate for St. Johns County in February was 4.1 percent (not seasonally adjusted). That was a drop of 0.4 of a percentage point from January and a full percentage point from February 2014.

The rate was lower than every other Florida county except Monroe, which had a rate of 3.9 percent.

Fuel truck driver David Cowles told jurors Tuesday that he didn’t feel comfortable with the setup at the Fifth Wheel BP gas station in St. Augustine when he arrived on Aug. 19, 2011.

His concerns were warranted.

About an hour after pulling in with his fuel tanker, the station was engulfed in flames. Cowles was bloodied, burned and most likely alive only because some strangers dragged him away from the burning fuel tanks.

Paul Ricci knew when he became a small business owner at age 19 two years ago that it might be an exercise in naivety, but he was willing to give it a try.

It ended up working so well that he’s going at again.

Ricci went from teenage delivery man to becoming the teenage owner of Flagler Beach’s Tony’s Pizzeria. Now a little wiser and still younger than most college graduates, Ricci is co-owner of a new Tony’s location in the Moultrie Square Plaza near Publix.

“I just kind of had to take the next step and make the move,” Ricci said of his initial venture.

The most valuable home in St. Johns County has a famous owner, but it isn’t one of the many professional golfers who live here or even a certain former Florida football coach.

Situated on more than eight beachfront acres, the home of former Wall Street investment banker Martin A. Siegel is considered to be worth almost $9.8 million by the St. Johns County Property Appraiser’s Office.

In a city bubbling over with joyous events in an increasingly bustling downtown, the No. 1 killjoy in St. Augustine is parking.

It’s been no secret that parking issues frustrate visitors and locals alike. Now the city has teamed with local businesses, the state and other organizations to expand the options during busy weekends.

The program made its debut over the weekend and will continue through the busy festival months of March and April.